I told it before, but my father, uncle and grandfather went face to face with an angry black bear in the early '50s. All they had was high brass #6 in 2 12 ga. guns and my father's 20 ga. Model 12. They were taking a walk after lunch and I didn't get to go because I was 5. The bear was coming down the mountain in a hurry and they were walking up the logging trail next to the creek. The path down lead straight to 1500 apple trees.

The bear was mad because 3 guys had been hounding it for 2 or 3 days. They weren't too happy about losing "their" bear. They showed up after the bear had been hauled down off the mountain and started talking trash in front of the women and kids in the side yard. It's at this point in the story where my father demonstrates how he told them to be quiet and wait for him to step into the house for a second. He came out wearing his State Trooper hat and sidearm.

It took a lot of shells because the only angle they had was on the head, face and shoulders as the bear stood in the creek and swatted at them - mostly at my grandfather's little farm dog who would not stop charging the bear. There was a reason the mutt was named Sparky.

I know this is a strange scenario but which bird shot do you wish you had loaded in your shotgun if this happened to you? Remeber you only need enough penetration to go through eye lids, eyes and destroy the bear's nostrils.

If the bear is blind, you don't need to worry about the "nostrils." You apparently want to destroy the bear's sense of smell, but that isn't an issue if you have blinded it. It isn't going to hunt you down after being blinded.

To destroy the sense of smell, however, is going to require considerable penetration as compared to penetrating the eyes (very shallow) as that smell happens within the soft tissue surrounding the turbinal bones of the snout.

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"If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011
My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

The idea behind hopeing the nostrils is hit is that his nose is heavily lased with nerves and is very sensitive. If you can induce enough pain in his nose he will probably be more likely to run away than fight.

Now obviously if the above scenario really happen I would hope everyone would report it to the game warden and hopefuly you and the warden can track down the bear and humanly finish him off.

Or if you were concerned about the legalities, hopefully you would return and humanly finish of the bear yourself anyway.(If I was not going to report it to the Game warden, I would indeed return within a few hours and try to track down that bear if possible to put him down.)

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If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.

The idea behind hopeing the nostrils is hit is that his nose is heavily lased with nerves and is very sensitive. If you can induce enough pain in his nose he will probably be more likely to run away than fight.

If blinded as you claim, the bear isn't running anywhere.

Yes, the nose has nerves. The face is often the area bears attack in one another, including the nose, which often can suffer considerable damage. Such pain doesn't induce the bears to run away very quickly.

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"If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011
My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

This bear might have just eaten a big bag of pot that the hippys down river had in their back pack. Now he is not only hungry he is enraged with hunger. This bear is rampaging through the forest like Rosie O'donnel at a Golden Corral. He needs food. Not just any food he is looking for meet. Plus who knows he might even be infected with the T Virus

That's funny as hell, but after his marijuana appeizer would't he go looking for organic berries while trying to stick dandelions in behind his ears.

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"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress, but I repeat myself." Mark Twain

Ok I was using a 3'' #6 Turkey load out of a Remington 11-87 with a Full Choke during turkey season in the fall here in CA.

I ended up calling in a coyote and decided to try to get it, so i kept calling and he kept coming. I took 2 shots at probably 35 feet. the first shot knocked it down and the 2nd shot just rustled its fur, from what i saw. It ran away, never to be seen again. I didnt find ANY blood at all. sad

I couldve used some good pictures and pats on the back from the ranchers

Given the choices you lay out, I think I'd choose #4. I'd prefer the 3" magnum load. To me, it seems that it would provide a good balance of pattern and depth, understanding that by depth I mean rate at which they bounce off fur. :-)

I shoot the Remington 3" magnum shell and even #4 turkey shot tears up paper targets pretty good at 50'. It might be just enough to make that bear stop and think for a minute about his next move.

/*tom*/

__________________You say you support our troops. How about actually doing something? Your blood or platelets can save a life Armed Services Blood Program.

i would first try to move away as fast as possible and avoid confrontation. but if i had no choice and had to make a stand and defend my life, i carry 5 rounds of high brass #4 shot with me when small game hunting. i keep 2 on the buttcuff.

using them i would aim for the face,neck, upper torso area,hopefully cause enough damage to be able to get away and call the wardens asap and report it. yes if i did'nt kill it it could wander around wounded and really angry. but i wasn't asking for it to come near me,attack. i have a right to defend myself,and was born with it.

i never encountered a bear where i've hunted, but have seen wild dogs years ago. there are bears further north in the state, and at times they are wreaking havoc in yards. hunting much less living up there is one really good reason to be allowed to CCW in public or atleast open carry a pistol when hunting.

At contact range it will come out of the gun like a slug.
I was once swinging on a partridge and didn't see a 2" sapling between the barrel and bird. Completely removed the wood. I could see thru it before it fell on top of me. Like I sawed it out. It was 1.5 to 2' in front of me. it was # 6. But I would want #4.

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